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As a daycare provider, safety is a top priority for Melanie. Pellets appealed to her because they are a safe, clean alternative to oil for heating. Her daycare already used a pellet stove for backup heat during the winter months. And she loves that pellets are sourced locally providing more avenues for employment in our state.

Description:

Melanie Collins provides a safe and environmentally friendly daycare in her home in Falmouth. In the spring of 2013, Melanie installed both a Kedel wood pellet boiler to replace her aging oil boiler and a solar hot water system to provide for all her hot water needs. There are two Wagner flat plate hot water collectors on the south facing roof providing for the domestic hot water load which is stored in a well insulated 80 gallon tank in the basement. Whenever the sun is not able to provide enough energy for the tank, the pellet boiler kicks in to take over the job. Kedel pellet boilers are a complete replacement for fossil fuels boilers. They require no backup and are fully automated. This simple and elegant solution reduces her home’s heating costs by 50% and lower her CO2 emissions by 90%. Imagine having a pellet delivery vehicle come to your home in the winter instead of the oil truck!

Other Benefits:

Environmentally friendly daycare

Maintenance Requirements:

Yearly maintenance contract with reVision heat. Boiler needs cleaned once per year. Melanie needs to empty ash on an as needed basis.

My Motivation:

Projected energy expenses were too high and would eventually exceed my income. Decision was made to eliminate hot water expenses and lower my heating costs over time.

Advice:

It may seem hard to come up with the money to invest in efficient technology but it's worth it. If I can do it on a limited budget so can you.